25,000 Shares in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) Purchased by First Sabrepoint Capital Management LP

First Sabrepoint Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 25,000 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $2,722,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PHM. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in PulteGroup by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 622 shares of the construction company's stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,572 shares of the construction company's stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,224 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,440,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,384 shares of the construction company's stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 43.0% in the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 349 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PHM. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays lowered their price target on PulteGroup from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America lowered their price target on PulteGroup from $135.00 to $134.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on PulteGroup from $140.00 to $124.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on PulteGroup from $151.00 to $141.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, PulteGroup presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $134.69.

PulteGroup Price Performance

PHM stock traded down $3.24 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $103.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 873,776 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,228,619. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 12 month low of $88.07 and a 12 month high of $149.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50 day moving average of $101.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $111.70.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.10. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 24.43% and a net margin of 17.18%. The company had revenue of $3.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.10 EPS. On average, analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. PulteGroup's dividend payout ratio is currently 6.21%.

PulteGroup declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the construction company to purchase up to 6.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other PulteGroup news, VP Brien P. O'meara sold 3,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.40, for a total value of $372,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,209,980.80. The trade was a 23.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Todd N. Sheldon sold 15,191 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.50, for a total value of $1,617,841.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,758 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,961,727. The trade was a 16.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

PulteGroup Profile

PulteGroup, Inc, through its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the homebuilding business in the United States. It acquires and develops land primarily for residential purposes; and constructs housing on such land. The company also offers various home designs, including single-family detached, townhomes, condominiums, and duplexes under the Centex, Pulte Homes, Del Webb, DiVosta Homes, John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods, and American West brand names.